Primary Sources: History of the Malay World

Katak di bawah tempurung / Seperti katak dalam tempurung – Frog under the coconut shell. Let’s try to get out from under our shell.

This page is a list of open access resources and primary sources related to the history of the Malay world, broadly defined including, but not limited to, the lands and peoples in what are today Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore. This is part of a collection of primary source guides here at Frog in a Well that were created first and foremost with students in mind, especially those who are mostly dependent on English language materials and who may have limited access to commercial databases. It should be seen as a work in progress, and corrections or suggestions for additions are most welcome.

The page inevitably reflects the knowledge and interests of the contributors with, at least so far, a heavy tilt towards materials from the 19th to the 20th centuries. The general focus on English sources and the limited availability of translated materials available open access also means that many of these sources are from the perspective of colonial officials, western travellers and authors, or those who worked in or closely with, especially, Dutch and British colonial regimes in the region. They need to be used with care and with a critical eye.

Contents

Publication from select individuals:

National Archives of Singapore

Digititized Historical Books Online

 

General Online Resources:

Government Reports, Manuals and Correspondence

Maps

Below are some links to just a selection of the vast number of historical maps available online from the region and down to the level of cities. The dates are publication dates but like any historical source, read and use these maps with care: note the vast differences in quality, disconnects between the year published and the time that information may have been gathered or the age of the source maps they may be based on. Be suspicious of clean crisp borderlines where the reality was far messier, or subject to highly contested claims, etc.

National Archives of Singapore Microfilms:

Malaya Medical Reports

Botanical Reports

Publications from William Edward Maxwell (Governor of the Straits Settlements and British Resident of Selangor)

Publications from Frank Swettenham (British Resident of Perak and Selangor, Resident-General of Federated Malay States and Governor of Strait Settlements)

Publications by R.O Winstedt (Colonial Administrator):

Publications by Thomas Horsefield (Physician):

Newspapers and Magazines

Year ranges indicate those available online.

Dream SEA Archive: Digital Archives for Rare Manuscripts from different areas of Indonesia:

Biographies and Autobiographies:

Ship Logs/Journals:

JFK Archives on the Malay World

  • Netherlands: JKF-Luns Meeting, April 1961 – President Kennedy’s meetings with Dutch Foreign Minister Joseph Luns regarding negotiations between the Netherlands and Indonesia on the independence of West New Guinea
  • Netherlands: Security, 1961-1963 – The folder consists of materials concerning negotiations between the Netherlands and Indonesia on the independence of West New Guinea
  • Australia: General, 1963: 18 October – 16 November – This folder contains memoranda and cables regarding relations between Indonesia and Malaysia
  • West New Guinea: General, May 1961 – This file contains memoranda regarding a dispute between the Netherlands and Indonesia over West New Guinea
  • Meetings with the President: General, 1962: June-December – In this folder is a memorandum of a meeting between President Kennedy, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, and Ambassador of the Netherlands Dr. Jan Herman van Roijen discussing Dutch relations with the United States and Indonesia.
  • Staff Memoranda: Komer, Robert, June 1962 – This folder contains memoranda from Robert W. Komer of the National Security Council (NSC) to various persons including McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. Topics include negotiations between the Netherlands and Indonesia about the independence of West New Guinea.
  • Staff Memoranda: Komer, Robert, August 1962 – United States policies in Southeast Asia; relations between Indonesia, the Netherlands, and West New Guinea; and Dutch response to the Indonesian flag in the United Nations
  • National Security Action Memoranda [NSAM]: NSAM 179, U.S. Policy Toward Indonesia – This file contains a copy of National Security Action Memoranda number 179 (NSAM 179) titled, “U.S. Policy Toward Indonesia. Also included are memoranda to the President discussing a plan of action for Indonesia.
  • National Security Action Memoranda [NSAM]: NSAM 195, U.S. Policy Toward Indonesia – This file contains copies of National Security Action Memoranda number 195 (NSAM 195) titled, “U.S. Policy Toward Indonesia”
  • Indonesia, 1961-1963: “Perspectives and Proposals for U.S. Economic Aid” – “Perspectives and Proposals for United States Economic Aid: Indonesia.”
  • State, 1962: January-March – Meetings between Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and President Sukarno of Indonesia.
  • Australia, Security, 1961-1963 – Topics include background information for various meetings between the President and Australian officials, Operation Plowshare, and the conflict between Indonesia and Malaysia.
  • Indonesia: General, 1961-1963 – Materials concern the settlement agreement of West New Guinea (West Irian) and the agreement between the Government of Indonesia and oil companies. Also included in this folder is correspondence between President Kennedy and President of Indonesia Ahmed Sukarno.
  • Indonesia: Security, 1961-1963 – Materials concern the settlement negotiations of West New Guinea (West Irian), negotiations between the Government of Indonesia and oil companies, an attack on Indonesian ships by Dutch ships, Peace Corps volunteers to Indonesia, and the imprisonment of U.S. citizen Allen Lawrence Pope. Also included in this folder is correspondence between President Kennedy and President of Indonesia Ahmed Sukarno.
  • Indonesia: Sukarno Visit, April 1961 – This folder contains material collected by the office of President John F. Kennedy’s secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, concerning Indonesia, and pertain to administrative arrangements for the visit of President of Indonesia Ahmed Sukarno to the United States.
  • Indonesia: Security, Sukarno Visit, April 1961 – This folder contains material collected by the office of President John F. Kennedy’s secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, concerning Indonesia, and consists of background information for the visit of President of Indonesia Ahmed Sukarno to the United States.
  • Indonesia: Credentials of Ambassador Zairin Zain, April 1961 – This folder contains material collected by the office of President John F. Kennedy’s secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, concerning Indonesia, and pertains to the new Indonesian Ambassador to the United States Zairin Zain.
  • Indonesia: Sukarno-Keita Visit, September 1961 – This folder contains material collected by the office of President John F. Kennedy’s secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, concerning Indonesia, and pertain to a visit to the United States by President of Indonesia Ahmed Sukarno and President of Mali Modibo Keita. Also included in this folder are materials regarding the Non-Aligned Nations conference in Belgrade.
  • Indonesia: Peace Corps Training, 1963: February-May – This folder contains material collected by the office of President John F. Kennedy’s secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, concerning Indonesia, and consists of an instruction booklet for Peace Corps training at the State University of Iowa for volunteers going to Indonesia.
  • Dr. Subandrio: Statement of the Chairman of the Indonesian delegation to the United Nations, 9 November 1961 – Dr. Subandrio: Statement of the Chairman of the Indonesian delegation to the United Nations, 9 November 1961
  • President’s Trip: Proposed Far East Trip, 1963: July-November – This folder include material related to President John F. Kennedy’s proposed trip to Asian and Pacific nations (referred to as the “Far East”), with possible visits to the Republic of China, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaya.
  • President’s Trip: Proposed Far East Trip: March-June 1963 – This folder include material related to President John F. Kennedy’s proposed trip to Asian and Pacific nations (referred to as the “Far East”), with possible visits to Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaya.
  • Indonesia, 1961-1963: General (1/3 Folders) – This folder contains telegrams and memoranda regarding Indonesia’s economic instability, repayment of debts to the Soviet Union, and relations with Malaysia; trade negotiations with United States oil companies; and economic aid from the U.S., Netherlands, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
  • Indonesia, 1961-1963: General (2/3 Folders) – This folder contains telegrams and memoranda regarding Indonesia’s economic instability and balance of payments, relations with the Netherlands, military and economic aid from the Soviet Union and the United States, a possible Peace Corps program, an attempted assassination of Indonesian President Ahmed Sukarno, and West Irian (also known as West Irian Jaya and West Papua). Also included in this folder are materials concerning a civic action program for the country and a military civic action program adopted by the Indonesian Army to prevent the spread of Communism in the country.
  • Indonesia, 1961-1963: General (3/3/ Folders) – This folder contains telegrams and memoranda regarding relations between Indonesia and the Netherlands and the transfer of West Irian (also known as West Irian Jaya and West Papua), United States military and economic aid to Indonesia, and Indonesian President Ahmed Sukarno’s visit to the U.S. Of note are letters and telegrams between President John F. Kennedy and President Sukarno.
  • Audio Tape 96, Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia and Brazil, Nuclear Test Ban Negotiations, 4 July 1963
  • Interview Transcript: Charles Baldwin 1969 – Baldwin discusses U.S. foreign policy in Southeast Asia during the Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson administrations, relations between Malaya, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines, and British influence in post-colonial Malaysia, among other issues.
  • Interview Transcript: W. Averell Harriman 1965 – Harriman discusses American opinion on negotiations in Laos; U.S. negotiations and objectives in Indonesia; American relations with Ahmed Sukarno
  • Interview Transcript: Howard P. Jones 1969 – This interview focuses on meeting John F. Kennedy, relations with the Far East, and serving as Ambassador to Indonesia, among other things
  • Interview Transcript: Howard P. Jones 1970 – This interview focuses on observations of the incoming John F. Kennedy Administration, United States involvement in Indonesia, and communication with the Kennedy White House regarding Indonesia, among other things
  • Interview Transcript: Howard P. Jones 1970 – This interview focuses on Robert F. Kennedy’s [RFK] involvement in Indonesia, different ideas about Indonesian policy in the early 1960s, and organizational changes under the Kennedy Administration, among other things
  • Interview Transcript: David Dean Rusk 1970 – This interview focuses on the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union, the nuclear test ban treaty, and the United States’ foreign policy towards China and Indonesia, among other topics
  • Interview Transcript: Ahmed Sukarno 1964 – This interview focuses on Sukarno’s admiration for John F. Kennedy (JFK), the strengthening of the relationship between the U.S. and Indonesia, and the progressive ideals advocated by JFK, among other issues
  • Oral Interview: Karen Pedersen 1962-1965 – Karen Pedersen served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Malaya (later known as Malaysia) from 1962 to 1965. She later worked as a Peace Corps trainer in Hawaii. While in Malaya, she worked as a public school science teacher
  • Photos: Arrival ceremonies for Sukarno, President of Sukarno – President John F. Kennedy greets President of Indonesia Ahmed Sukarno at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. Left to right: Protocol officer for the State Department, Clement E. “Clem” Conger; President Sukarno; President Kennedy; Under Secretary of State, Chester Bowles.

Oral History Interviews from the National Archives of Singapore (by Project Titles)

Transcript of Speeches from the National Archives of Singapore

Resources from the National Archives of Singapore (audiovisual files)

Documents on the Malayan Indian Congress (Documents of the party written by the US Department of State):

Documents on the Malayan Emergency written by the US Department of State:

FRUS US Diplomatic Materials

The Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) is the “the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity” (About) and is a rich source of historical material on US relations with Southeast Asia. The US Office of the Historian offers ebooks of the volumes which are compiled and released as those documents are made available to the public. You can find the full list here:

Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) ebooks

Some of the volumes of particular interest include:

Open Access Books

Below is a large linked list of some of the many open access books related to the Malay world online (both what you might categorize as primary but also secondary literature). Most of these are available on the Internet Archive, but also on other archives, university libraries, Hathi Trust, or Google Books. Another collection of online books and articles definitely worth consulting is the Sejarah Melayu Library. There is also a very rich collection of ebooks at BooksSG.

Click on the “All Texts by Author” button below to show the list of all the linked books listed by author, when one is available.

Most of the works are in English. If our collection continues to grow and include significantly more Malay, Indonesian, Dutch, or other languages, we may add language tags. For your convenience, we have also tagged groups of texts, but note that this tagging process is far from complete. Metadata for these texts was usually pulled automatically from their online home and may contain errors, so please check the sources themselves and entries for them in library databases or check Worldcat. You may also view this list of works directly via this Zotero group.

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Contributors

This list of primary resources was created by Sahil Bhagat (email: sahil@froginawell.net twitter: @sbhagat2000). Sahil is a former student of the University of St Andrews class of 2022 and is now a graduate student in the class of 2024 International and World History dual program at Columbia University and LSE. He is interested in the history of South Asian diasporic populations in colonial and post colonial Malaya and Singapore.

Other contributors to this page: Konrad M. Lawson, Harry Banham.

We very much welcome further contributions to this list of resources. If you have suggestions or corrections, please get in touch with Konrad at kmlawson@froginawell.net or @konrad@social.coop on Mastodon.

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